Hitler flap distracting education board

Wednesday

Jan 30, 2013 at 12:01 AMJan 30, 2013 at 4:49 PM

Ohio Board of Education President Debe Terhar's refusal to apologize for her Adolf Hitler Facebook post has undermined the work of the board and raises questions about her ability to lead the non-partisan panel, says cental Ohio's representative on the 19-member board.

Ohio Board of Education President Debe Terhar's refusal to apologize for her Adolf Hitler Facebook post has undermined the work of the board and raises questions about her ability to lead the non-partisan panel, says cental Ohio's representative on the 19-member board.

Michael Collins, of Westerville, stopped short of asking Terhar to step down but said he's become frustrated by the Cincinnati Republican's unwillingness to address the posting which was reported by The Dispatch last week. Since then, Collins said he has received hundreds of telephone calls and more than 30,000 e-mails.

"We've got a ton of work to do - third-grade reading guarantee, report cards, teacher evaluations, not to mention the governor's new school-funding plan - and this (Terhar's Facebook post) is what the conversation is about. None of us have the right to bring this level of distraction...and if you do, you need to address it," Collins said.

"This has now become a serious question of public trust, leadership and has become a distraction to the important work before the board that impact 1.87 million school children in Ohio."

Terhar, Collinssaid, must "issue a formal apology, commit to disassociate personal politics from a non-partisan position, and remove this distraction...Short of this, I regret my vote for her presidency and question her capacity to lead going forward. The critical work of our board must e done in a way that is above partisan politics."

Collins said he and another board member he declined to name, privately urged Terhar to issue a public apology and it appeared she would do so, but he was informed otherwise last weekend.

Late last week, Terhar sent an e-mail to board members declining a request from six board members for a special meeting to discuss the controversy. Instead, she said she would discuss the matter at the board's next regularly scheduled meeting Feb. 11. Collins had recently joined the request but they were still short of the 10 required to force a meeting. Short of a 10-member majority of the board, Terhar would have to agree to hold a special meeting.

Terhar has faced growing criticism for a Facebook post which appears to compare President Barack Obama to the Nazi leader responsible for millions of deaths during World War II. Her message followed Obama's call for additional gun controls in the wake of the massacre of 20 children and six adults last month at a Connecticut school elementary school.

Terhar told The Dispatch she was not comparing the president to Hitler, but urging her Facebook friends to consider history, including Hitler's tyrannic rule, during the gun debate. Gov. John Kasich, who appoints eight members of the board, has defended Terhar, who is elected, saying she made a "mistake."